{"id":91543,"date":"2025-08-27T04:55:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T04:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=91543"},"modified":"2025-08-27T04:55:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T04:55:00","slug":"forex-scarcity-fuelling-mafia-style-auctions-at-our-ports-ieag-warns-of-mass-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=91543","title":{"rendered":"Forex scarcity fuelling mafia-style auctions at our ports \u2013 IEAG warns of mass action"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana (IEAG) is concerned over what it describes as a \u201cmafia\u201d system of illegal auctions at the country\u2019s ports.<\/p>\n

The Association is accusing politically connected cartels of exploiting forex scarcity to dispossess legitimate traders of their goods.<\/p>\n

In a statement signed by Samson Asaki Awingobit, Executive Secretary of IEAG, it said the deepening shortage of foreign exchange has left many importers unable to clear consignments, particularly perishable goods such as frozen foods, from the ports. <\/p>\n

Rather than receiving relief, IEAG says its members are being subjected to a predatory cycle where their investments are hijacked and auctioned under questionable circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u201cDue to importers\u2019 inability to secure forex on time to clear their goods, their consignments are pushed onto the Undercleared Cargo List (UCL),\u201d the statement explained. <\/p>\n

\u201cShockingly, the statutory 60-day grace period before auctioning has been arbitrarily reduced to 21 days. Politically-connected businessmen lie in wait for this window to elapse, after which goods are dubiously auctioned without recourse to the importer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Association further alleged that proper gazetting and legal processes are ignored, while affected traders are left to suffer crippling losses. <\/p>\n

More scandalous, according to IEAG, is the fact that importers whose goods are seized are still forced to pay demurrage on consignments they never had the chance to clear, while the politically connected buyers escape such costs and instead pay shipping lines service charges ranging between GH\u00a26,000 and GH\u00a210,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis fraudulent system not only robs importers of their hard-earned capital but also denies the state valuable revenue at a time when Ghana desperately needs every pesewa to stabilise the economy,\u201d the Association stated.<\/p>\n

IEAG described the situation as \u201cpredatory and heartless,\u201d warning that it undermines investor confidence and contradicts government\u2019s own call for local business growth and inclusiveness. <\/p>\n

\u201cHow can government, on one hand, call for local business growth, while on the other hand allow such hostile practices that only empower corrupt political cabals to the detriment of genuine traders?\u201d the Association queried.<\/p>\n

To address the crisis, IEAG is demanding the immediate restoration of the 60-day UCL grace period, the introduction of a first-time clearance option to allow importers who miss deadlines to pay penalties instead of losing their goods, a comprehensive investigation into the cartels behind the auctions, and urgent intervention by the Bank of Ghana to make forex available at fair and predictable rates.<\/p>\n

The Association warned that failure to act could cripple local businesses and plunge the economy further into instability. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe IEAG wishes to make it clear that it will not sit aloof while its members are subjected to such exploitation. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe stand ready to explore every legal and legitimate means, including mass action, should government and relevant authorities fail to act swiftly,\u201d the statement concluded.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"ForexThe Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana (IEAG) is concerned over what it describes as a \u201cmafia\u201d system of illegal auctions at the country\u2019s ports.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1904,7387,6975,1883,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-banking-and-finance","category-forex-scarcity","category-importers-and-exporters-association-of-ghana-ieag","category-national","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91543\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}